Revival (Eminem album)
Not to be confused with the 2015 album of the same name by Selena Gomez. Revival is the ninth studio album from American rapper Eminem. It features guest appearances from artists Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Skylar Grey, Alicia Keys, X Ambrassadors, Kehlani, Phresher and Pink. Released on December 15, 2017 by Aftermath Entertainment, Shady Records and Interscope Records, the album received mixed reviews from music critics, but was a commercial success. On August 31, 2018, Revival was followed by Eminem's tenth studio album Kamikaze. History On October 19, 2016, when he announced the freestyle rap "Campaign Speech" on his Twitter, Eminem revealed that he was working on an album, writing "Don't worry I'm working on an album! Here's something meanwhile." In late 2016, there have been rumors that the album's title would be Success and would be released sometime in January 2017. Also, a fake tracklist was leaked, with Adele, Chance the Rapper, Kid Cudi, Vince Staples and The Weeknd as featured artists. In February and March 2017, there have been more rumors when Eminem announced he was headlining three shows in Reading, Glasgow and Leeds. Several news articles said that because he was performing, he would have to release new material to perform, or at least preview, at the festivals. Track Listing All tracks written by Marshall Mathers/Eminem, Beyoncé Knowles, Holly Hafermann/Skylar Grey Luis Resto, Mark Batson, Mike Strange, Denuan Porter, Erick Sermon, Parrish Smith, Emile Haynie, Richard Marin, Tommy Chong, Gaye Delorme, Duval Clear, Andre Brown, Ed Sheeran, etc. Personnel Why It Sucks # On this album, Eminem strays away from his normal style and goes into the pop-rap genre and it does not sound well. # The production on this album is very poppy and it sounds terrible with Eminem's voice. # Half-hearted use of sampling, full sail stealing the choruses of the songs, specifically in "Remind Me" and "In Your Head", which takes the choruses of "I Love Rock and Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and "Zombie" by The Cranberries respectively. # In some of the songs, he tries to imitate the flows and production style of modern Trap Rap, however, it comes across as terrible. # The album received much negative attention and reviews from critics including Anthony Fantano who gave the album a 2/10. And considering Anthony Fantano gave Lil Pump's debut a 7/10, this album is really bad. He even put it at #6 on his list of the "Worst Albums of the 2010s". # This album is just an embarrassment to Eminem's career. # It, along with Encore and Relapse, are some of Eminem's worst projects. # There are some cheesy lines (ex. Actually, just shit on my last chick and she has what my ex lacks). # The Rap Rock songs such as "Heat" and "Remind Me" have poor writing and bad use of the songs sampled for the beats. # "Bad Husband"'s hook by X Ambassadors is badly sung. # P!nk is wasted on "Need Me". # The song "Nowhere Fast" is directionless and has no point, and the "Extended version" only adds 8 bars about Gun control, even though he doesn't change anything else about the song. Redeeming Qualities # "Walk On Water", "Untouchable", "River", "Offended", "Castle", "Arose" and a remix of one of the songs on this album "Chloraseptic" are great. # Speaking of "Offended", it has Eminem's (so far) fastest verse on his own solo song, which is even faster than "Rap God". (However, his fastest verse on record is on the Nicki Minaj song, "Majesty".) # While "Bad Husband" has a poorly sung hook, the song is about Eminem showing maturity towards his ex-wife Kim Scott, and apologizing for everything he's said about her in his previous work. # Eminem salvaged his career after this album and came back with Kamikaze, which was a lot better than this project. Reception Critical Reception Revival received mixed reviews from music critics and a mostly negative reaction from fans. On Metacritic, the album has a score of 50/100, based on 24 reviews, meaning "mixed or average reviews" and on AnyDecentMusic?, it has a 4.3 out of 10. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album a 3 out of 5 stars. Josh Modell of The A.V. Club gave it a D+, saying "Eminem is not good at his job anymore" while Dan Weiss of Consequence of Sound gave it an F, calling it "ugly, arthritic, and pleasureless" and "a disaster". Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, stating that it "represents Eminem on top form, which is to say, unstoppable, ubeatable yet often indefensible". Matthew Ismael Ruiz of Pitchfork gave it a 5.0/10, saying "While the long tracklist and equally protracted verses make for an exhausting listen, there are rewards for that endure". Andy Gill of The Independent gave it a 4 out of 5 stars, complimenting the album's lyrical themes. Don Needham of The Guardian gave the record a 2 out of 5 stars, criticizing its production and focus. Anthony Fantano of TheNeedleDrop gave the album a 2 out of 10. Chart Performance Weekly charts Year-end charts Certifications * Canada (Music Canada): Platinum - 80,000 * New Zealand (RMNZ): Gold - 7,500 * United Kingdom (BPI): Platinum - 321,000 * United States (RIAA): Gold - 500,000 Music Videos Eminem - Walk On Water (Official Video) Eminem - River ft. Ed Sheeran Eminem - Framed Category:Eminem Albums Category:Albums Category:Albums that are an Embarrassment to a Singer's Career. Category:Hip Hop/Rap Albums Category:Pop Albums Category:Bad Albums From Good Artists Category:2010s Albums Category:Albums that Charted at Number 1 Category:Albums reviewed by Anthony Fantano Category:Awful Moments in Music History